x, 437 pages ; 24 cm

The question of masculinity formed a key part of the intellectual life of late antiquity and was crucial to the development of Christian society. This book revisits the Roman Empire during the third and fifth centuries of the common era and argues that the collapse of the Roman army, an increasingly autocratic government, and growing restrictions on the traditional rights of men within marriage and sexuality all led to an endemic crisis in masculinity. The cultural and demographic success of Christianity during this epoch lay in the ability of its leaders to recognize and respond to this crisis. Drawing on the tradition of gender ambiguity in early Christian teachings, which included Jesus's exhortation that his followers "make themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven," Christian writers and thinkers crafted a new masculine ideal, one that took advantage of the changing social realities in Rome, inverted the Roman model of manliness, and helped solidify Christian ideology by reinstating the masculinity of its adherents. [publisher]

Includes bibliographical references (pages 393-428) and index

"masculine splendor" Sexual difference, gender ambiguity, and the social utility of unmanliness -- "men receive a wound, and submit to a defeat" Masculinity, militarism, and political authority -- "A purity he does not show himself" Masculintiy, the later Roman household, and men's sexuality -- "I am a soldier of Christ" Christian masculinity and militarism -- "We priests have our own nobility" Christian masculintiy and public authority -- "My seed is a hundred times more fertile" Christian Masculintiy, sex and marriane -- "The manliness of faith" Sexual difference and gender ambiguity in latin Christian ideology -- "Eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" Castration and cChristian manliness

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